Well ladies and gentlemen the signups for the 2021 Stablemates Club and Premier Club are now officially CLOSED. This means that nobody can join the clubs again until next year. In the meantime Breyer has released a silhouette of the new Stablemates Club mold, which looks an awful lot like a shrinky of Ashquar. I'm surprised at the release of yet another Arabian after we just had Darley not too long ago. We also got to see Breyer's translation of Fireheart from the artist prototype to plastic. The beautiful brownish-yellow palomino of the prototype looks like it has Breyer's infamous Cheetos coloring. They also seemingly took the light silvering out of the mane and tail to be replaced with pure white pearling (sorry guys but it looks like there won't be a break from the pearling this year). I love the mold with his lip hanging partly open and his fiery expression, but a color makes it or breaks it for me, no matter what the mold looks like. I guess I'll wait to see what he looks like in-hand first before I decide if Breyer overdid the orange or not. I'm glad they didn't reveal more of the Vintage Club releases. I'm one who likes some surprises and I won't be getting that with the Stablemates Club. At the same time, I do like seeing where my money is going though, ya know? At least I can rest easy knowing the Stablemates Club lineup turned out really good for next year. I admit that I've already bought my first horse of the new year: that darn elusive chase from the Unicorn Crazy Series 4 blind bags. It took me - and I kid you not - no less than SEVEN Walmarts to find him. One Walmart even had 4 boxes put out and all the chase pieces were gone. I only took the one so if there was another in the other boxes, someone else can have the opportunity to get one. He is a beautiful mold and a very long boi. He would make a good trotter mold, and I would love to see him used for racehorses like Foiled Again. I thought he'd be tippy, but actually his left legs are stuck together which gives him more surface area for support. An ingenious idea on Breyer's part, and a possibility if they ever (finally) make that Standardbred trotter I'm hoping they'll release through the Premier Club one of these years.
I finished my last customs for 2020 over the holiday break (they're now posted for sale) but I'm going back to work full time on Monday so I don't know when I'll get around to making my first customs of the new year. These might be the last I have for a while. I'm really surprised that Breyer went without a decorator for the Stablemates Club this year (not including the blue in the gambler's choice) but honestly I'm happy that they didn't. I love the Django mold and was hoping for a realistic color on him. Well, my wish came true! Here he is... Hendrik! He's a stunning dappled flaxen chestnut, and with all the spots this year in the SM Club lineup, it's a nice change of pace to see a solid colored pony. Not that I have anything against spots, of course, since pintos and appaloosas makes up about 90% of my collection, but I did wonder if any of the horses were going to be solid colored for next year. Maybe the optional 7th horse will be the decorator since the majority of people prefer realism on Breyers? I'm hoping they'll show it before the year is up like they did last year with Duke, the Clydesdale shrinky. If it is a realistic color, I'd still like to see a silver bay in the Stablemates Club lineup one of these years, Breyer ;) Remember that the glossy Breyerfest models were supposed to start shipping today but please know that not everybody's is going to be shipped on the same day. Breyer also doesn't always update an order status as "fulfilled" right away, nor do people always receive a shipping notice email, so just sit tight and be patient while Breyer sorts it out. I can't wait for my Cheesecake to get here!
I can't believe only a few more days and we'll already be into 2021! Remember to pre-order before December 31st for FREE shipping on orders over $100. I have already moved the 2021 releases to my Store in preparation for the new year. Also, new customs have been posted to both the store and my eBay page. If you're interested, be sure to check them out! 2020 has been a hard year, no doubt, but even if you haven't been directly affected by the virus, there is still the threat of it hanging over our heads, at least until we know how this vaccine will work out (and thank you to all healthcare providers on the front lines willing to be the guinea pigs for this new vaccine... y'all are always willing to put yourselves in harm's way for the sake of survival for others) so now that we're coming to the end of the year, let's hope 2021 will go a little smoother. A new year, a new vaccine, a new president and renewed hope. I'm hoping things will be looking up by July and we'll be at Breyerfest in person, as I'd love to be able to offer pickups. If not and it's virtual again next year, I can still offer pickups on special runs but there is no way I'd be able to do store specials if the setup is the same as last year. I can't believe it won't be long until the Breyerfest special runs are revealed, and tickets go on sale. By the way, are we ever going to know who the celebration horse is? It takes at least 6 months for Breyer to produce the models for Breyerfest, so it's gotta be soon. All things considered, the hobby has been good to me this year. I have cranked out more customs this past few days than I think I have over the past 3 months. I've already listed some and will be listing more tomorrow. I've finished several Stablemates, all Halloween. I've made a couple animal decos that are currently getting finishing touches, and am going to be starting on Christmas decos this next week. Here is a sneak peek: Breyer is having their end of the year sale now so be sure to head over to their website to check it out. From a collector's point (aka rare stuff) there isn't really much, mostly warehouse bargains and retiring regular runs. The Christmas blanket with Yuletide Greetings apparently was part of the deal but it is now sold out. A big question is: will there be another Ambrose this year? Ambrose was a connoisseur quality - and American made might I add - appaloosa that Breyer offered on December 27th last year. It was kind of out of the blue, as they'd never done it before, so I'm thinking it was it just a one time offer. They did reveal one of the last two Stablemates Club horses, unless they show the optional 7th purchase then it'll be three more reveals, but the optional horse for last year wasn't shown until the very last day of the year. This is the vintage model and his name is Raider. He's a glossy chestnut frame overo on the G1 Seabiscuit mold. In my opinion, he looks like a mini of the "Picture This" contest horse that we voted on at Breyerfest. So this leaves the Django model. I'm kind of hoping Breyer won't use a decorator this year, as I'd love to have other realistic colors on Django, but I don't think it's likely. I think deep down that Django will be our decorator. The optional 7th horse last year was revealed on the last day of the year last year, so my guess is if they do show it, that's when it'll be. They did say for sure that there will be a 7th horse though.
The past couple years, Breyer has shown the entire Stablemates Club lineup by the end of the year, minus the new mold which is always unveiled at Breyerfest. Considering that it's only little more than a week away from the new year and all we've seen is Atticus and Tobias (shown below) it was about time they showed us something new. I'm actually impressed with Tobias who was revealed this past week. I've always liked semi-leopard appaloosas but this guy in particular looks like a mini-me of Heartland, a horse who is a cherished member of my permanent collection, minus the fact that Tobias is dun (note the leg barring) while Heartland was bay. For those who don't know, Heartland was from Breyerfest 2007 and was the first Breyerfest horse in my collection. Though I sadly didn't get to go that year, a friend of mine went and brought Heartland back for me. I remember seeing her on the Breyerfest poster that came with the JAH magazine that year and wanted her so badly, especially as I was born and raised in the "heartland" of the USA being a midwestern gal, and she was on my favorite mold at the time, Ruffian. The reveal for today - with no prior sneak peek thank goodness - was Dahlia. Apparently she's going to be the gambler's choice, and I'm loving the color combinations! You could get either dappled blood red chestnut splash pinto with blue eyes (my favorite), Amber champagne, ocean blue deco or black Pintaloosa. With this reveal, it appears that Django will likely be the decorator since the G1 is always a realistic color. I'm working on a Croi custom myself right now. Demand for my customs is far exceeding what I've been able to put out, but the good news is that I'll have two weeks off work due to the holidays so I'm going to dive back into it. I just bought a crap load of bodies that I'll be able to work on equalling about 20 Stablemates, 2 Classics and at least 3 or 4 Traditional sized. Between all these there should be plenty for everyone. There will be some animal patterned horses, Halloween horses and Christmas horses since these are my most requested. I should be finished with the first round this weekend. The sales of these horses will help me to get through the next couple weeks without pay (as I'm almost completely sold out of regular runs due to Christmas gifting and won't be getting in another order until my 2021 RRs come in) so I appreciate everyone's support!
I will be heading to Kentucky tomorrow to visit family so I won't be blogging again until Christmas day when the Santa Surprise is released. Until then I sincerely hope y'all have a safe and merry Christmas! I have to admit that I'm impressed with these two. Cassidy is just stunning with the shading in her mane, striped hooves and even mottling on her muzzle. A lot of detail was packed in a small package. I know a lot of people didn't care for her confirmation but I think her little pot belly is adorable and reminds me of an old broodmare I had as a child. Now honestly I didn't know how I'd feel about Duke after seeing his current stock pictures, but actually he's better than I thought he'd be. He has a glossy finish (which I couldn't tell from the stock pictures) and his filigree pattern is cool in that no two are exactly the same. Even on my guy each side of him is drastically different from the other. My only issue is that I wish they would have waited to release Duke as a brand new mold instead of putting him in the 70th blind bags. I do think the mold is cute though even if not very popular, and may even be the start of a small conga. The Stablemates Club never ceases to amaze me. With each passing year, the horses get better and better in detail. Apparently to current members who haven't yet purchased a 2021 membership, they've started revealing next year's lineup. This one appears to be a bay appaloosa, no doubt on the Appaloosa mold. We'll probably see his full reveal by the end of the week. Yay for sneak peeks! Answers to a couple other questions that people have been wondering recently have popped up: Wowza, 200-250 EACH? That was awfully generous of Breyer considering that most horses of previous years were 100-something or less. For those of you wondering when those Breyerfest glossies that were supposed to be shipped in December are due, here ya go: I can't wait for my glossy Cheesy (although now I'm wishing I would have gotten a glossy Benelli too from the picture) and rumor has it via social media that Breyer has already started shipping glossies to some folks so keep an eye out! As to Prince, the palomino Fighting Stallion Deluxe Collector Club stablemate, he'll be on his way too around the same time as the glossies, Breyer confirmed. Finally, there is a 2021 teaser out for the Premier Club (for those who haven't signed up yet) that says this: So now they're going to do the 50/50 split with the Premier Club? How exciting that we'll be able to choose! It'll depend upon the color for me. If the horse has a lot of white, or is a plain bay or black, I would probably gloss it. Those are really the only colors I care for in gloss. It would be nice if Stablemate Club members had the option to choose either glossy or matte whenever they had a split in the run. Which reminds me... there was supposed to be a split in the Stablemates Club for 2020 but there wasn't. Hm...
Though we're winding down the year, there is still much to look forward to, and I'll bring you all of the latest information I can find about upcoming releases :) The Stablemates Club is now open for membership for 2021! You will receive six models which includes a gambler's choice plus an optional seventh model available for purchase later in the year. To join, you will need to join the Collector Club and put down a $30 deposit. Each model costs $20 plus shipping ($5.95 to US residents) but $5 is deducted from each model, making the cost only $15 plus shipping when they're released. You have until December 31st to sign up. This is not a club that is limited and is the most affordable club Breyer offers. I signed up already especially after seeing the molds being used.
The silhouettes of five of the seven releases is shown above (the sixth one is always a new mold and is never shown until right before it's release) so you can see which molds they are going to use. The new Clydesdale will be the first release of the year. The G1 Seabiscuit mold is going to be the vintage mold this year, which I'm super happy about as I adore this mold, with the Appaloosa being the older mold, though not quite vintage. I'm assuming either Croi or Django will be the gambler's choice. Breyer usually shows us pictures of them right before the deadline to join, during the last couple weeks of the year. Now what of the other clubs? What will we see in the lineup? The Vintage Club usually has three vintage models: one with vintage coloring, one gambler's choice and the third with a modern paint job. They usually also include a modern mold with vintage coloring... this will be Julius for next year. Most likely we'll have a mare and foal since we didn't have one last year. The molds most likely to be used are the Family Arabian Mare/Foal or the Stock Horse Mare/Foal. For the gambler's choice, it is most likely going to be the decorator split (gold, gold filigree, Wedgewood blue and Wedgewood blue filigree) but the choice of molds are still pretty endless. For the Premier Club, we know who the artists of the other two horses will be, but that's about all we know so far. We may know a couple more hints when Breyer starts sending out the Premier Club welcome letter early in 2021. The other two artists are: Maggie Jenner-Bennett who I believe is sculpting for Breyer for the first time, though she does have a large following already with her Micro Minis Club and seems particularly fond of Arabians. Morgen Kilbourn loves performance friendly horses, which I'm so happy to see her in the lineup, as she was the artist of my favorites Wyatt, Bristol and Bobby Jo. Can we get a landing version of Bristol this time or a reiner like the Stablemates version? Just when you think it was over, Breyer has cranked out yet another release today. This is Christoff the new Classics winter decorator. I'm assuming this guy is taking the place of the previously released web exclusive Classics (examples are Frosty, Coeur de Lion, Zenith, etc.) but this guy is unique because he's a clearware, and his pattern is very similar to St. Moritz. I may end up adding this guy as a buddy to ride with when I purchase the final Premier Club horse, provided he's still available by then. Only 2,000 were made. I'm assuming they'll release some wintry stablemates either next month or in December so I'll let y'all know if that happens. In the meantime, I've received Valerio, and I ended up with the sooty buckskin appaloosa. The first thing I thought was that he looks very similar to Andante. Here are some in-hand pictures of him before I package him up to be sent to his new home: Unfortunately he just wasn't my cup of tea. Although he was described by Breyer as a "sooty buckskin" he just looked too bay to me, especially as the one I received was super dark, hardly any yellow at all. I probably won't hunt down the rose grey since prices are outrageous for this guy so instead I will be looking forward to the dapple grey Clydesdale and the chunky broodmare in December!
Only Monday and Breyer has already brought out another sneak peek. To all Stablemates Club members, this is the last horse of the year, Cassidy. She is a silver black (swoon!) blanket appaloosa on the new mold for this year, that chubby little brood mare that looks a lot better in color than clay. Not surprisingly she had to be an appaloosa (goodness, Breyer, are you guys feeling the spots this year?) but I do love me a realistic looking appaloosa anyday, and she is highly detailed. She will be a permanent member of my herd for sure. ...and for those that have been questioning it the optional 7th horse for the Stablemates Club is Duke, the glossy vintage style dappled grey on the new Clydesdale mold. He will be available for purchase along with Cassidy in December. In addition to this sneak peek, we also got to see the first Stablemates Club horse for next year, Atticus. He is a dappled bay sabino drafter, also on the new Clydesdale Stallion mold, but with a modified mane and tail. I do like the loose mane and tail better than the bobs but he isn't making me want to join the club just yet. I thought about taking a break from the Stablemates Club next year to just focus on the Premier Club, but it'll depend upon what the rest of the releases look like. I wasn't sold on Klaus either when I first saw him last year, but with the Alby being the gambler's choice and the special 7th release, that was the deciding factor.
Wow, I'm honestly surprised how soon they released the Stablemates Club horse after the Premier Club horse. Those of you in both clubs have the rare opportunity to combine shipping on both of your horses. I'm happy that they chose Sultan for this month since I would've had to miss out on the opportunity for combined shipping, as I skipped out on Vermeer, and I had also planned to skip out on Sultan. He was just too similar to Zahrat that I decided to pass. I've thankfully found a good home for him where he will be cherished so all turned out right in the end. As to the Premier Club, what I'd like to see most is a new Standardbred. The pacer mold is so outdated it makes me wish they would have done one before Foiled Again had to be released on that chunky, tippy vintage pacer. Honestly, that mold looks nothing like the real horse. Breyer, we need another Standardbred. I know that pacing Standardbreds can't really portray anything outside of harness racers, but I mean look at Emma for example. There are only a handful of breeds she could be but yet they still made her, and her limited use has caused her price to remain high. I personally would have loved to have a portrait model of Stanley (Staying Together) who set a lot of track records, along with Horse of the Year, and who was a resident of the Hall of Champions in the Kentucky Horse Park until his untimely death last year. Stock horses and drafters have been way overused lately. Just my opinion.
Well, the panic we were all waiting for is here. Breyerfest started with a huge hiccup in that people weren't able to checkout with the store specials. I woke up and, before checking social media, went to the store first thing like apparently so many other people. I thought "Huh... that's funny. All the special runs are still available. I thought for sure some would be sold out by now." I attempted to add them to my cart to no avail. It kept asking me to log in, and when I did, it didn't recognize my account. Apparently those who had early special run times were also unable to add any special runs to their account which delayed special run times by 2 hours. The next hiccup, but this one was not surprising in the least, was how quickly store specials have been selling out. I gotta tell y'all that I was hesitant about this to begin with, but I didn't realize that you literally have only a matter of a couple minutes once items are restocked - which has been consistently about every 2 hours - to check out. There were a lot of times when I'd get the horse in my cart only to have it displayed as "sold out" halfway during checkout. Despite this setback, I was able to fulfill most of my pre-orders this first day, though it took a lot of time fighting with thousands of other people for the same horse. By the way, I'm not blaming Breyer on any of this. In fact, I still think they're doing a phenomenal job for taking up such a difficult task. The website is easy to use, by Friday afternoon everything seemed to be running smoothly as far as the special run lines and they've been doing their best at answering my questions whenever I messaged them to let them know about a glitch I was having. I can only imagine how their IT department must be feeling. All the power to them. I would like to show you all what many Collector Club members look forward to at Breyerfest each year, the who wore it best special run where Collector Club members can vote on who is their favorite. This year it's called "Picture This" and consists of four different molds in silver bay overo coloring. They'll be available for purchase next year so if you want one you can either join the Collector Club 2021 at the end of this year or take the one I'll have available upon its release, as I'll likely not add this one to my collection because of all the bare plastic. Really In my opinion, Adios and Zippo Pine Bar match the breed to the color quite well. Carrick and Latigo (though Latigo was made to be a stock horse) just not stocky enough to be a Paint horse. It was hard to decide but in the end I went with Adios. We had a couple specialty club reveals today in the form of stablemates. The first was the Stablemates Club new mold, a walking stock horse. I can't believe how detailed they're making these little guys. The amount of muscling and the mane/tail are just phenomenal. She's a little fat in the barrel for my liking though, so depending upon her coloring will decide if I keep her or not. She definitely looks like an older broodmare well past her prime who has had her share of healthy foals... The second reveal, although we saw the sneak peek yesterday of what the new little Fjord for the Premier Club will look like, we didn't see his color. Breyer posted this today, saying he could be one of the three following colors. Since the first looks like Altynai and the third is similar to the leopard appaloosa pattern we saw in the sneak peek at the end of last year, I'm assuming the middle guy is going to be the coloring for the PC horse we haven't seen yet. If it is, I'm super pumped! Yet another splash pinto, this time hopefully with mapping! Love me some splashes. Which color will they pick for the PC stablemate? I'm thinking the one that looks like Altynai since it's more similar in color to a true Fjord than the other two, however we all know that colors matching to breeds mean absolutely nothing to Breyer. What if it's a gambler's choice? Ooo! That'd be something!
As for my special runs, well I ended up somehow getting four surprise models with my two Friday tickets. I don't know how because I thought they didn't give duplicates for the same time slot but for some weird reason I've been having incredible luck with surprise horses lately. I either got a really good place in line both times or nobody is taking a gamble on the surprise horses since they don't know what they're going to be. I'm excited, as I love surprises and I really hope I get at least one glossy. Chances are I'll probably end up with duplicates which will be for sale on eBay once I know exactly which I get. I have two more time slots but not until Sunday so I'll be spending tomorrow trying to scoop up whatever store specials I can get. Bring on day 2! |
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